Qualcomm's profits took a big hit in Q2 2015, forecast reduced for rest of year

Qualcomm's fiscal results for the second quarter of 2015 showed a big drop in its profits. The company, which at the moment is the exclusive supplier of processors for Windows Phone devices, is also cutting its overall outlook for the rest of the year.

Net income for the quarter that ended in late March came in at $1.05 billion, well behind the $1.96 billion it earned from the same period a year ago. Part of that reduction was due to the company paying a $975 million fine to the government of China in order to settle an antitrust dispute. Revenues for the quarter were $6.89 billion, compared to $6.37 billion from a year ago.

Qualcomm is now predicting that its overall revenues for the entire year of 2015 will be between $25 billion and $27 billion, well below the company's previous prediction of between $26.3 billion and $28 billion. Qualcomm said it was making this shift due to two factors:

The increased impact of customer share shifts within the premium tier, which will reduce our sales of our integrated Snapdragon processors and skew our product mix towards modem chipsets in this tier; and

A decline in our share at a large customer.

As Android Central mentioned, the unnamed "large customer" was Samsung, who elected to not use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 in its Galaxy S6 smartphone in favor of its own Exynos processor.

There are also rumors that Microsoft and other OEMs could decide to use Intel's Atom x3 processor inside devices running Windows 10 for phone when it officially launches later in 2015. If that happens, that could impact Qualcomm's earnings even more.

but wait a moment... if Microsoft chooses intel, then windows phone would essentially be x86 computers, and they could use the "full blown" w10 OS, I don't know I just saw a few reviews coinciding in the fact that the new surface 3 has less than half the battery life of the surface 2, so intel is not there yet to compete with ARM, the last thing I want is a new lumia with less battery than I already have

Surface 4 non-pro model could be out by Christmas when Intel launches new second generation 14nm FinFET Atom.....then Microsoft will discount 6 month old Surface 3 along side of Surface 4 ....Microsoft should be more aggressive once Win10 is out!

I hear they've now asked Samsung to manufacture the SD820 for them. They're definitely trying to salvage the relationship and make sure the S7 ships with their chip in it. The S6's Exynos has been very well received which isn't good news for them.

From what I've heard Qualcomm is dropping TSMC because of very BAD yields with 20nm and still NOT ready yet 16nm FinFET technology, Samsung / Global foundries are both 14nm FinFET technology with great yields right now....I can see the Snapdragon 820 in the Note 5 in October possibly because Samsung next generation not ready till January 2016..

Let's calm down. Qualcomm is not going away any time soon. Rumors of a Windows Phone running the x3 chip will likely remain rumors until the device is announced. They remain a large company with a massive range of products. SoCs aren't the only thing they make.

This would have been a good time for Intel to step up with chips for mobile, but those lazy folks can't figure out how to integrate power&telecoms on 1 chip. If Intel doesn't start making chips for mobile soon, they will become like Nokia

It's rumored that Apple might but out ARM right now by the way! If so that means everyone pays royalty payments to Apple for the use of ARMv7 / ARMv8 architecture. If true I see everyone moving over to Intel 14nm/10nm Atom processors in the future! Just BING it for more information.

Intel isn't making any money on their mobile processors right now, in fact they are losing something like $1 billion a year. At some point they will need to significantly raise their prices.

Apple buying ARM has been rumored for years, but ultimately it doesn't seem like a good fit. Apple already has the premium license (like Samsung, Qualcomm, and other 1st tier licensees) so they can pretty much go any way they want. ARM being a standard benefits everyone who uses ARM (more development, tools, support, etc.). Acquisition by anyone of the big players invites regulatory scrutiny.

The first generation 14nm FinFET made Intel Atom are = to the Snapdragon 810, Intel is working on a second generation 14nm FinFET Atom code name "Goldmont" witch should be = to the Snapdragon 820 end of the year.

I'm not getting the first generation Windows 10 Phone just because there using the crapy Snapdragon 810 in it!
I'm waiting for MS to use the Snapdragon 820 in their Lumia, probably second generation Win10.1Phone? The Snapdragon 820 so far looking fantastic!
-14nm FinFET -Custom CPU called "Kryo" -Custom GPU called "Adreno 530" -Hardware Ai brain like chip called "Zeroth" -Cat 11 LTE support and too be ready by Christmas this year!

No, just regular man hands... Just not a bitch. Lol.
........
I actually think they should have 4 sizes, and market the heck out of them...
4.7" 5.1" 5.7" and 6.1"-6.2"..... They might sell a lot of 4.7" high end devices. It's a good idea.

Ok, dude. I see your point. You don't care for my opinion.. I think it's time for you to ignore me instead of following me around trying to get some attention...
.......
I don't agree with you, you don't agree with me, so unless you have something constructive to say then ignore me.. I promise I will be doing so to you... Either way, I'm asking that you stop harassing me right now. Are you going to stop❓

People say that the 1520 is too niche, and it's not necessary, but they don't say the same for the 1020 which sits at the exact same 3.3% market share according to the charts....
.........
The fact that a 6" screen device doesn't fall into the "other" category means that MS should indeed continue to make that device, not change it, and expect for current users to be happy...

Funny how everyone saw my 920 at release, and commented on the size being huge. They also noticed the weight, but I workout, so I liked it. So many thought that the 4.5 was too big, makes me chuckle now. I think that the 4.7, 5.1 are reasonable enough. They do need something at the sizes of the Apple offerings and also the Samsungs. People that already have those devices won't want to drop down dizes of screen real estate. I certainly could not use my HTC Desire as my daily driver, seems tiny. They do certainly need a 1520 replacement though. I doubt we will see two offerings above 5.1. But I could be wrong. Personally, I hope you are right. I also would like them to keep fairly similar specs across them, so people don't have to drop specs in order to get the screen size they need.

It think the better name should be
Lumia 940 mini
Lumia 940
Lumia 940 XL
Lumia 940 zoom
If they want to enter the clothes market, maybe it should be name like these
Lumia 940 XS
Lumia 940 M
Lumia 940 XL
LUMIA 940 XXL
;)

If Microsoft puts Atom x3 processor on the Lumia 940 It will be a dream come true.

Why? Because of x86 software could someday run in a phone and that is the future, a phone that can become your PC when technology matures and you can keep both a Mobile OS kernel and Desktop OS kernel both running on same device supervised by another OS just like Xbox One does right now.

And for Qualcomm, all I can say is they are going to have worst results in coming quarters since Samsung makes their own mobile chips, LG makes their own mobile chips, Huawei also and MediaTekk also, and of course don't forget about Apple.

The Intel CPU race is much more easy to handle by Intel since the only big competitor is AMD.

I'll bet Samsung not using their 810 CPU in their latest S6 phones might have contributed. As we all know, Samsung sells a ton of phones, so that's a ton of business (profits) Qualcomm is losing just from Samsung alone, not to mention the tepid response the SD 810 is getting from some quarters.

That's a good point, Apple, Samsung, LG and Huawei all these companies put their success on 2 aspects, their CPU and their hardware device.

I think that if quarters get worst year after year for Qualcomm, they might get purchased by a big mobile company for the patents and all the intangible assets Qualcomm has the advantage of being in a industry that is still growing exponentially specially on emerging markets and that can make them a very valuable company at the moment.

Agreed. High level hardware(final predicts) producers sometimes turn to manufacturing parts for their goods. Like Huawei and Samsung do. But it usually doesn't happen vice versa, I think for a sound reason. Maybe you need more experience to produce a viable phone, tablet or something of the kind.

Yields reflect on cost of production and not temperature to the chips. Fantastic yields would result in the same problem. Both Qualcomm and Samsung CPUs are stock designs from ARM, except that Samsung has the 14nm advantage. With this kind of advantage it's hard for the Qualcomm chip to compete.